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PHOENIX (AP) -- The Phoenix Coyotes were on the longest winning streak in the NHL until the the Anaheim Mighty Ducks changed that.
Now the Mighty Ducks appear ready to start a run of their own.
|  | | Anaheim's Stu Grimson hits the boards ahead of J.J Daigneault. |
Guy Hebert stopped 30 shots, improving to 11-6-1 lifetime against Phoenix, as Anaheim beat the Coyotes 2-1 Saturday night and
snapped their eight-game winning streak.
The victory in Phoenix improved Anaheim's record to 3-1-1 in its
last five games.
"We're trying to iron things out before the middle of the
season, and the last two games were two of our best performances,"
said Hebert, who had 19 saves the night before to salvage a 1-1 tie
with Los Angeles.
Phoenix came up one victory short of the franchise record of nine
consecutive victories, set during March 1985, when the franchise was called the Winnipeg Jets.
"It wasn't from lack of effort on our part," said Trevor
Letowski, who ruined Hebert's shutout bid with a short-handed goal
5:10 before the game ended. "We played hard all night, and it
wasn't enough."
Jim McKenzie and Ted Donato scored for Anaheim, which was shut
out in two previous losses to Phoenix.
Rookie Robert Esche was in goal for Phoenix, and his 26 saves in
his first NHL action this season didn't quite match the expertise
of Hebert. Hebert stymied a team which scored 24 goals in its last
five games and has yet to be shut out.
He got a break with 7:05 left in the second period, when defenseman Jason Marshall sprawled headlong to knock away a puck that skidded to within an inch of the goal line behind Hebert.
Esche, recalled from Springfield of the AHL on Nov. 27, played
in three games with the Coyotes last spring, going 0-1-0.
Hebert made two saves during Phoenix's fourth and last power
play -- extending the Mighty Ducks' string of penalties killed to
16.
The Coyotes played most of the game without captain Keith
Tkachuk, who got whiplash Nov. 28 against Detroit and reinjured his
neck in a collision with linemate Dallas Drake early in the first period.
The absence of the big forward was most noticeable on the power
play, when the Coyotes had no one able to park himself outside the
crease with Tkachuk's determination.
"I've got a lot of respect for that hockey team," Anaheim
coach Craig Hartsburg said about the Coyotes. "They lost a great
player early. I don't know what happened to him, but if Tkachuk's
not in there the game, it makes a difference."
He said his players were excited when the Coyotes traded Mikhail
Shtalenkov for Sean Burke, who is out of action with torn ligaments
in his thumb. Shtalenkov had the two shutouts against the Mighty
Ducks.
Because of Burke's injury and Nikolai Khabibulin's holdout,
Esche became the fourth goalie to start for Phoenix this year.
McKenzie was waiting when a slap shot by Marty McInnis bounced off Esche, who was leaning to his right and left the wide side of
the net open for McKenzie. He fired it in 15 seconds after he
emerged from the penalty box with 9:59 left in the first period.
"He's going to get lots of wins in this league," said
McKenzie, who scored his first goal. "I don't think you have to
worry about that. I think he was pretty good. None of the goals we
got were pretty."
Donato made it 2-0 when J.J. Daigneault of the Coyotes lost the puck in the neutral zone, and Tony Hrkac sent a cross-ice pass to Donato for a 15-foot shot that got past Esche's glove side 2:06
into the third period.
"You have to be realistic when you evaluate a game," Coyotes
coach Bob Francis said. "Anaheim played a very sound game last
night against L.A., and they carried it over."
The Mighty Ducks, whose power-play scoring led the league at 22
percent last season, came in ranked 27th and fell below 10 percent.
They also gave up the short-handed goal to Letowski.
Letowski took a pass from Jeremy Roenick and shot as he skated
across the slot, forcing Hebert's only mistake.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Anaheim Clubhouse
Phoenix Clubhouse
RECAPS
Chicago 9
Boston 3
NY Rangers 1
Buffalo 1
Philadelphia 3
Montreal 2
Atlanta 4
NY Islanders 3
Dallas 3
Ottawa 1
Toronto 3
Pittsburgh 2
Florida 2
Washington 1
Calgary 4
New Jersey 2
Nashville 4
Detroit 1
St. Louis 4
San Jose 2
Colorado 3
Carolina 1
Anaheim 2
Phoenix 1
Edmonton 3
Vancouver 2
Tampa Bay 3
Los Angeles 3
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